Now for the protection of brush and the cute lil critters. It is natural for the brush to burn off now and then. The saving of 50 years of growth has proven to be the wrong thing. Burn offs are important to plant life and a natural event. A balance has to be found in fighting the brush fires and saving the homes that are in the interface area.

Has much as the brush fires seem spectacular and huge on tv, it is a small percentage of LAFD’s day to day operations.

You are correct, I should have addressed this to the Fire Chief. However, I read that he retired. So I went to lafd.org. No info there on the Chief’s name. Nothing I found in your blog. Called 311 and listened to Mayor V’s retarded and self-serving message, in both English and Spanish, (of course) and an operator transferred me to what he said was the Fire Chief. No one answered, just a recording. The Chief’s name was not mentioned in that.

So, I addressed this toward the general LAFD. I also have calls in to the US Forestry division and am eagerly awaiting their replies. I also talked with the LA County Department, who also has ONLY Type 1 trucks, except for one in Catalina…but only LAFD protects LA and Griffith Park.

Trust me, our “elected leaders” will get this message, as well. :)

As always, your measured response is highly appreciated, Officer. And I promise – I will visit your station within the next few months!

I and my fellow firefighters appreciate your continued interest in Southern California’s wildfires and their impact on wildlife, especially those blazes that are near our beloved City of Los Angeles.

I do stress near, as the ‘Station Wildfire’, with *very* limited exception, stayed outside our City of Los Angeles jurisdiction.

While the media oft-reported ‘LAFD’ – and our agency did commit mutual aid resources, the bulk of the fire remains (as of this writing) in Forest Service lands within the County [emphasis] of Los Angeles. As such, many of your strategic questions regarding the Station Fire may best be directed to the USFS & LA County Fire Departments, and not the LAFD.

While everyone is entitled to their opinion – and some of yours are quite valid, I do hope that someday I can adequately convey that ‘Wings & Wheels’ don’t extinguish fires like these, firefighters do. :)

Though someone may have in the past conveyed (mistakenly I believe), that one type of apparatus or another would be a ’silver bullet’, the truth remains that it takes a myriad of skilled personnel and equipment to battle wildfires, no two of which are alike, even in our City.

While I could come up with a long list of things we’d love to have at the LAFD to better serve you in a multitude of situations (including more helicopters, bulldozers, hand crews for wildfires), the truth remains that even an armada of the Type 3 apparatus you fondly mention would not take the place of the infantry and air force needed to quell this blaze, and remain outside our financial reach to acquire, staff and deply. Even if our desires were ‘less than the cost of a single suburban home’, policymakers have made it clear that funds are limited if not non-existent for much of what we hope for.

Ms. Barstow, my year-old invitation for you to visit with one of our Battalion Chief’s remains, as does my personal desire to expose you to one of the 15 (and I do officially stand by that number) LAFD Brush Patrol units, so that you can see what we DO have.

With the peak of fire season soon to commence, I do hope that any continued concerns that you and others hold will be conveyed forthwith to your elected leaders, and not aimed ambiguously at “LAFD Headquarters”.

In closing, I want to assure you that we do love small animals and wildlife, and were there to be a singular and effective tool to help us in protecting then while battling fire, our Department, employee organizations and others would be clamoring for same.

Respectfully Yours in Safety and Service,

Brian Humphrey
Firefighter/Specialist
Public Service Officer
Los Angeles Fire Department